This invention relates to a method and apparatus useful for interacting a liquid with a fluid medium, such as a gas, and exchanging heat with the liquid where the heat exchange aids in driving the interaction by either removing or adding heat. The invention particularly relates to a method and apparatus where the liquid absorbs components from a gas and a heat of absorption must be removed to aid in driving the absorption process.
Devices are known for absorbing components from a gas and cooling the absorbing solution. One such device for absorbing an acid solution uses impervious carbon or graphite tubes for the fluid conduits to support a falling film of the liquid and a passage for the gas on the inside of the tubes. The outside of the robes is exposed to a heat transfer medium. These tubes have been found to be sensitive to thermal and mechanical shock, and may sometimes require expensive replacement. For such devices to process large flow rates of liquid and gas, the devices must be rather large and bulky, or multiple units may be required. Conventional heat exchange devices are known for cooling a liquid that floods a chamber that contains a braided robe array through which is circulated a cooling fluid. These heat exchangers are not designed to work efficiently when the fluid does not flood the chamber, and they do not have means to establish and maintain a mixture of liquid and gas while removing heat from the mixture.
Some other heat exchange devices designed for gas-to-liquid interaction are often made of materials that may be subject to corrosion and fouling, especially if strong acid solutions are involved. To avoid corrosion which may contaminate the process fluids, expensive, non-corroding metals are sometimes used.
There is a need for a simple, fluid medium/liquid interaction device that processes a high flow rate of liquid and fluid medium, such as a gas, with high productivity in a compact assembly. There is a need for a gas/liquid interaction device that has a low prorated cost and that has long maintainance intervals and is simple and inexpensive to maintain. There is a need for a gas/liquid interaction device that is rugged in an industrial environment and can withstand sudden temperature changes and mechanical shock without catastrophic damage, and there is a need for such a device incorporating relatively inexpensive materials that are insensitive to most corrosive industrial chemicals.